Realities of the TA mission presented at the Covadonga Offering 2021
COVADONGA, Spain.- From different walks of life and from different countries, they made a pilgrimage to Covadonga, in Northern Spain to make the annual offering that is part of the Teresian Associacion (TA) tradition since 1934, in fulfillment of the desires of its founder Saint Pedro Poveda.
It is considered a gesture of fidelity to the past and of commitment to the present, offering the fruits of the T.A. mission and offering its hope for a new beginning after the the global experience of the pandemic of Covid19.
The Eucharist was presided by the Archbishop of Oviedo, Jesús Sanz and cardinal Carlos Osoro, Archbishop of Madrid .
Before the testimonials of the participants of this year the TA. President, Maite Uribe, explained that the TA wanted to bring to Our Lady “La Santina” the reality lived on a daily basis by many people in the different places where the seed of charism has borne fruit. “We want to bring to Santina some projects, actions, gestures, embodied in specific places, which help us to recognize the strength of a charism that is bearing fruit in a diversity of professions, presences, and generations”, she said.
“A charism capable of crossing limits, crossing borders, and going through great trials like the one we are experiencing worldwide”. And this is so, she said because , “it recognizes and finds in the Risen One the strength and hope to humanize, comfort, heal and make life grow”. And she specially mentioned “the ability of the charism to mobilize young people and make them creative and bold, seeking new answers to the challenges posed by justice and solidarity at the local and international level.”
Acknowledging that in a few days the process of the Synod on Sinodality will take place, she entrusted to Our Lady of Covadonga , “our desire to start walking with all Christians in order to live this process in all the local churches where we are present and thus contribute to build co-responsible and participatory communities” .
The commitment to human rights, education and democracy, the work of hospital workers, the training and accompaniment of youth through international leadership projects and the commitment to education in the TA schools or public institutions were among the topics presented to Our Lady by the participants.
One of them was Cardinal Carlos Osoro, Archbishop of Madrid, a good friend of the TA whose ministry is being inspired by St. Pedro Poveda since his young years as a priest. In his testimony, he not only shared about his first encounter with Pedro Poveda and with the TA, he also ventured into sharing what Pedro Poveda is telling him today, for the present moment
“I feel that Pedro Poveda is telling me that we have to build a culture of encounter and care” he said. Encounter and caring that he applied to six aspects of life.
• Caring for the faith, “so as not to succumb to anything and not allow ourselves to fall into resignation that we no longer have a way out”. For him it has meant “looking up to heaven” and not giving in to the logic of destruction, revenge or passing by. “
• Caring for prayer because it “opens us to trust in God even in difficult times”. He acknowledged that Pedro Poveda has been a teacher and an endearing company to him. ”He taught me to wait in easy and difficult moments against all the evidence and has taught me how to remain in the daily battle”. He clarified that prayer is not flight, it is not a way to escape from problems. “On the contrary, it is the only weapon we have to take care of love and hope in the midst of all the troubles that daily life sows.
•Caring for study, as a means to “better understand the world and society and even the Church itself that the TA is called to transform”.•
•Caring for unity as called by the the prayer of Jesus: May they all be one: Be a single family where love and brotherhood reign. “Pedro Poveda had to live in a moment in history where the political situation required a commitment to peace and brotherhood, never to feed violence”.
•Caring for the truth. Poveda understood that truth means to remain united to Christ, to live consecrated to his gospel. As Poveda wrote: “The men of God and the women of God are unmistakable, they are not distinguished because they are bright or dazzling because of their human fortitude, but because of the holy fruits… the same experience the disciples of Emmaus felt waking with Jesus”. And cardinal Osoro acknowledged that this is a prayer he has posted in his room and he says it every morning
•Caring for the church. The Church must be made to be what the Lord has wanted: the bearer of the proclamation of Jesus Christ, being in the truth and for the truth… and if necessary, risking one’s life”.
The archbishop offered his life and work to the Santina and assured all present that “ the Lord continues to tell us: Go! Announce me! introduce the gospel into the present culture. I accompany you and I leave my mother with you. She will remind you of everything I have told you and will encourage you to take care of faith, prayer, unity, truth and the mission of the Church.
This event and the testimonials and offerings of participants and of the Young people and their dreams for the world can be found in the the TA international Web where a booklet with all the printed messages in Spanish can also be accessed. ( A.Cantero)
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